Apertured suction trunk for traveling cleaner



J. F. KING, JR 3,197,146

APERTURED SUCTION TRUNK FOR TRAVELING CLEANER Filed March a, 1964 July 27, 1965 INVENTOR James F. Ih ,Jr J Rei n/Jam I WATTORNEYS? United States Patent 3,197,146 APERTURED SUCTIGN TRUNK FOR TRAVELING CLEANER James F. King, he, iiinston Salem, N.C., assignor to The llahnson Company, Winston-Salem, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Mar. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 349,067

4 Claims. (Cl. 239547) The present invention relates to traveling cleaners of the type designed for use in conjunction with textile machinery and more particularly spinning frames and the like, winch are arranged in rows along the mill floor. The traveling cleaners run on rails located at a level above the spinning frames and move longitudinally of the frames for the purpose of removing lint which has a tendency to collect on various parts of the frame as well as on the floor in the aisle areas and beneath the frame.

Traveling cleaners of the type referred to are in common use and include various arrangements of flexible suction and blow-off trunks which depend at opposite sides of the frame from an overhead traveling carriage.

The present invention is directed specifically to an improved construction for the flexible suction trunk and more particularly to the construction of the upper part of the trunk which is provided with suction inlets designed to remove directly such air entrained lint as may be present at a comparatively high level e.g. in the vicinity of the creel structure of the frame. This lint could be allowed to float gently to the floor and then be picked up by suction nozzles located at the lower end of the suction trunk adjacent the floor but it has been found preferable to trap and remove this high-level, lintladen air by an array of suction air streams located adjacent the creel structure itself.

Thus the general object of the present invention is to provide an improved construction for the upper section of a depending suction trunk which features a plurality of suction openings in the trunk wall that will lie in lint-removing relation to the creel structure of a spinning frame or similar machine having a creel section.

Another object is to provide a suction trunk in which the wall openings are made very smooth so as to minimize accumulation of lint at the openings as air is pumped through them.

A further object is to provide a flexible suction trunk having its upper part provided with a plurality of suction openings but wherein neither the strength nor flexibility of the trunk structure is adversely affected to any appreciable degree by the openings.

Still another object is to provide a suction trunk provided with suction openings along the upper part of the trunk and which are so arranged that the air suction will be distributed along the entire vertical height of the creel.

A further object is to provide a suction trunk with suction inlets located in the upper part of the trunk wall and which do not protrude from the wall, so as to permit one to maintain the usual minimum of clearance which exists between the trunk and the closest part of the creel as the trunk travels along the frame.

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages inherent in the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of one suitable embodiment and from the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in vertical elevation of the suction trunk;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section through the wall of the trunk at one of the suction openings; and

' filed October 11, 1963.

3,197,145 Patented July 27, 1965 FIG. 3 is an exploded View of a portion of the trunk wall showing the hole and the two halves of the reinforcing grommet structure prior to assembly.

With reference now to the drawings, the suction trunk is designated in general by numeral 1. This trunk is adapted to be supported in a vertical dependent manner for movement along the side of a spinning frame or similar textile machine by an overhead traveling carriage, and one suitable arrangement is more particularly disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 315,515 For this reason the upper end portion of trunk 1 by which it is attached to the traveling carriage has not been included in the present application. As will be evident from the drawings, the trunk is comprised of a cylindrical tube made from a suitable flexible fabric 2 and which is reinforced by a built-in helically running wire 3. The lower section of the trunk is provided with a protective sleeve 4 surrounding the reinforced tube 2, and the bottom of the trunk assembly terminates in a plurality of floor sweeping nozzles 5 which are also disclosed in more detail in the aforesaid co-pending application.

The upper portion of the tube 2 is provided with two vertical rows of spaced suction openings 6 which, when the suction trunk is operating, face the creel structure of the spinning frame and extend preferably for the entire vertical height of the creel. The size of these openings is somewhat less than the vertical spacing between adjacent turns of the reinforcing wire 3, which in the illustrated embodiment is 1".

Each suction hole is reinforced by a two part grommet of conventional construction the grommet parts being designated 7 and 8. Grommet part 7 is provided with the usual flange 7a and sleeve 7b and part 8 is provided with the usual inner and outer arrays 9, 10 of circumferentially spaced teeth. The hole 11 in the fabric material is made approximately A in diameter and is located midway between adjacent turns of the reinforcing wire 3 as depicted in FIG. 3. The outer diameter of the grommet flange 7a exceeds the distance between adjacent turns of the reinforcing wire and can be approximately 1%", while the diameter of the sleeve part 7b can be the same as that of the hole 11, namely 'Ms".

Using component parts of the dimensions mentioned, the teeth 9, 16 on the grommet part 8 protrude through the fabric 2 before they are swaged into the grommet part 7 to interlock the grommet assembly. Hence these teeth not only reinforce the fabric but also capture the wires 3 as shown in FIG. 2 and thus serve to rigidize the holes 11 punched into the fabric.

In operation, as the suction trunk 1 moves along the side of the spinning frame, air will be sucked in through the two rows of holes 6 from the area adjacent the creel structure thus directly removing any lint which may be entrained with the air. This air then passes upward through the trunk in the manner as disclosed in my aforesaid copending application. Air is also taken in through the floor-sweeping nozzles 5.

Use of grommets to reinforce the suction holes serve a multitude of purposes. They present a smooth metallic-surfaced aperture so as to minimize lint accumulation which otherwise would tend to clog one or more of the holes and thus reduce the cleaning efficiency for the creel structure. They present no laterally protruding surfaces which could interfere with the usually existing minimum clearance conditions as between the trunk and creel structure, and they also reinforce the fabric at the holes as well as rigidize the holes by capturing adjacent turns of the reinforcing wire.

In conclusion, it is to be understood that while I have described and illustrated one suitable embodiment of my improved creel level suction inlet structure for the suction trunk of a traveling cleaner, various modfications may be made therein with respect to the construction and arrangement of its components Without, however, departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a suction trunk for use on a traveling cleaner for removing lint entrained air from the creel area of a textile working machine such as a spinning frame, the improvement characterized by a plurality of suction inlets located in the upper part of the suction trunk, said trunk being constituted by a wire reinforced fabric tube and said suction inlets being in the form of grommeted holes passing through the fabric, the flanges on said grommets capturing said reinforcing wire.

2. A suction trunk as defined in claim 1 wherein said grommeted holes in said suction trunk extend for the height of the creel part of the textile machine.

3. A suction trunk as defined in claim 1 wherein said wire reinforcing extends helically about said fabric tube, said suction inlets are located between adjacent turns of said wire helix, and the grommet flanges capture adjacent turns of said wire helix.

4. A suction trunk as defined in claim 3 wherein the grommet teeth also clamp around the wire helix.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,776,169 1/57 Aschenbrenner 239-547 2,931,06 1 4/60 Holtzclaw 15-3 12 2,946,521 7/69 McEachern l53 12 X 3,045,929 7/62 McEachern 15--3 12 X WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A SUCTION TRUNK FOR USE ON A TRAVELING CLEANER FOR REMOVING LINT ENTRAINED AIR FROM THE CREEL AREA OF A TEXTILE WORKING MACHINE SUCH AS A SPINNING FRAME, THE IMPROVEMENT CHARACTERIZED BY A PLURALITY OF SUCTION INLET LOCATED IN THE UPPER PART OF THE SUCTION TRUNK, SAID TRUNK BEING CONSTITUTED BY A WIRE REINFORCED FABRIC TUBE AND SAID SUCTION INLETS BEING IN THE FORM OF GROMMETED HOLES PASSING THROUGH THE FABRIC, THE FLANGES ON SAID GROMMETS CAPTURING SAID REINFORCING WIRE. 